In a post-apocalyptic world where gigantic alien monsters called Veks threaten the now meager population of the Earth, humanity has entrusted its last line of defense to mechs capable of fighting at (almost) equal level against the monstrosities coming from underground . Each defeat does not correspond to the end of mankind, our heroes can in fact jump into another timeline and try again to beat the noemic. If the setting of Into The Breach made you shout "Kaiju!" for no reason, don't worry, you are not alone!
Into the Breach is a turn-based strategy game available for PC and characterized by a pleasant graphics in pixel art. The maps, made in an eight by eight grid, are much smaller than those of an average strategy; the small size of these should not scare the most accustomed to the genre as each of them can present several interesting variables: from the frozen ground that can be damaged to plunge the enemies (or the mechs you have left unwisely on the box), up to the flooded boxes that will make the map even more skimpy.
One of the strengths of the title is precisely the random creation of maps and secondary objectives which, if successfully completed, guarantee points that can be spent on new mechs, pilots or customizable equipment, also through the ingame retrieval of capsules containing technologies from the future.
The lure of Super Nintendiana's Front Mission and XCOM echoes strongly in the gameplay: considering the enviable workmanship of the titles, the recovery in Into the Breach of those key elements that made its fortune is justifiable and perfectly adequate.
The main objective for the rest of the game is the maintenance of the energy notches present in the Power Grid section: the exhaustion of the aforementioned leads in fact to the Game Over. The elimination of enemies leads to the obtaining of experience points that leads the pilots (as long as they do not die on the most beautiful as it happened to the writer) to level up and the acquisition of new skills.
Correct positioning is the keystone of this game: attacking the numerous Veks that emerge from the depths of the Earth head on leads to one sound as rapid defeat; often it will happen to sacrifice a mech or to remain to protect a structure and take the full attack of the enemy to prevent the loss of a very precious energy point.
The luck factor is almost absent since from the beginning of the turn the player knows where the insectoids will hit: by moving one of the Veks following one of our attacks, the repugnant alien enemy will continue to carry out the programmed attack always in the same direction, thus attacking an empty space or occupied by another Vek. It will therefore be up to the player's tactical ability and effective positioning to annihilate the attack of the Veks or at least make sure that the attacks bring as little damage as possible. In the various occasions in which the Game Over screen will appear on our monitors there will therefore be no accusations of bad luck, only an incorrect positioning or an attack launched too rashly will be the causes of the defeat.
Wanting to find a flaw in Subset Games' latest work, it must be admitted that the story will not deserve awards for originality. For the writing of the title, the dynamic duo Subset asked Chris Avellone, co-founder of Obsidian Entertainment for help. The good Avellone, however, does not seem to have gone beyond the so-called homework this time, drawing heavily from Hollywood films such as Pacific Rim and Edge of Tomorrow.
Completely different speech for the composer Ben Prunty who, after the excellent work already done in Faster Than Light, has created a soundtrack suited to the atmosphere of the title, never invasive or out of tune.
Into the Breach is a hybrid between a pure strategic and a tower defense that, with a gameplay that draws heavily from the classics of the genre, is able to make a small revolution among the strategic indies, just like the previous title of Subset Games he had done in roguelikes. In fact, by adding roguelike mechanics to a classic but at the same time innovative gameplay, this title is a candidate for a new benchmark for future strategic titles. Highly recommended for all lovers of the genre.
